The present invention relates to an apparatus for conditioning hay and relates particularly, though not exclusively to such an apparatus for conditioning cereals and grasses.
Various types of grasses, cereals and other crops are grown to make hay for animal fodder. The grass or cereal is mown or cut and then dried before being baled for storage. The hay may be left to dry in the sun and/or may be subject to conditioning in order to accelerate the process of drying or curing. Oaten hay can take two or more weeks to dry or cure, ie. the time taken between cutting/mowing and the hay being dry enough (12% moisture) to bale. This drying/curing time is when the hay is most vulnerable to damage from rain. Any rain on hay in windrows (after cutting and before baling) will result in damage to the quality of the hay. Every year, many thousands of tonnes of hay are made worthless because of rain on windrows.
Prior art conditioning equipment is typically incorporated within the mower, or alternatively conditioning of the hay may be performed in a separate operation by another machine after the hay has been cut. Conditioning rollers take many forms and all work on the principal of crimping the hay fibres. During crimping of the hay fibres, the stems of the hay are split or cracked open which allows the more rapid egress of moisture from within the stems to atmosphere during drying. To achieve this crimping, prior art conditioners rely on interlocking lugs or ribs on the rollers. One of the most popular designs of traditional conditioner is the CHEVRON(trademark) style of interlocking rubber rollers. In prior art conditioners the rollers can both have steel surfaces or both have rubber lagging or one roller with steel and the other with rubber. Other conditioners use flail-like devices which rely on rotating hammers attached by a chain to a drive shaft.
All grasses and cereals have nodes in their stems. These nodes are full of a fine honeycomb type cellulose material, whereas the stem is in the form of a hollow tube through which nutrients and water are transported to the leaves and head. Unfortunately, traditional hay conditioners have no effect on the nodes. For the production of high quality hay the nodes must be dry before the hay is baled. However, the nodes typically take two or three times longer to dry/cure than the stems and leaves of the grasses and cereals.
The present invention was developed with a view to providing an improved method and apparatus for conditioning hay in which the nodes are also conditioned.
Throughout this specification the term xe2x80x9ccomprisingxe2x80x9d is used inclusively, in the sense that there may be other features and/or steps included in the invention not expressly defined or comprehended in the features or steps subsequently defined or described. What such other features and/or steps may include will be apparent from the specification read as a whole.
According to one aspect the present invention there is provided a method of conditioning hay, the hay being made from plants used for animal fodder of the type having nodes in their stems, the nodes being significantly less compressible than the stems, the method comprising:
compressing the hay between a pair of rollers with a predetermined compression force sufficient to substantially flatten any nodes on the hay and thereby accelerate drying of the hay.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for conditioning hay, the apparatus comprising:
a first roller mounted for rotation and a second counter-rotating roller mounted in rolling contact with the first roller, said first and second rollers being adapted to receive pre-cut hay therebetween; wherein said first roller is rotatably mounted in a fixed mounting and said second roller is rotatably mounted in a moveable mounting such that the second roller is displaceable relative to the first roller as the hay passes between the rollers during use; and
wherein said moveable mounting comprises a pivotable support arm pivotably mounted at a location spaced from the axis of rotation of the second roller, and a rockable support frame pivotably mounted on said support arm, the second roller being rotatably mounted on said support frame;
the arrangement being such that the suport frame is able to pivot during use about a pivot axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the second roller and the second roller s thereby able to rock about said pivot axis in order to facilitate passage between said rollers of an object during use.
Preferably the moveable mounting includes a compression device for applying compression force to the second roller. The compression force applied to the second roller may be variable to suit the type of crop material passing through the apparatus. The compression force may be measured as the linear specific pressure applied to the crop material as it passes between the rollers, and the linear specific pressure may lie within the range of 17 to 32 N/mm. The linear specific pressure applied to the crop material as it passes between the rollers may be between the range of 20 to 30 N/mm.
Preferably, at least one of the first and second rollers is covered with a rubber or synthetic lagging material. The outer surfaces of said first and second rollers may be substantially smooth.
The apparatus may further comprise means for feeding pre-cut hay between said rollers.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for conditioning hay, the apparatus comprising:
a first roller mounted for rotation and a second counter-rotating roller mounted in rolling contact with the first roller, said first and second rollers being adapted to receive pre-cut hay therebetween;
wherein said first roller is rotatably mounted in a fixed mounting and said second roller is rotatably mounted on a moveable mounting such that the second roller is displaceable relative to the first roller as hay passes between said rollers during use; and
a compression device for applying a compression force to the second roller so as to compress hay as the hay passes through said rollers during use;
wherein said moveable mounting comprises a pivotable support arm pivotably mounted at a location spaced from the axis of rotation of the second roller, and a rockable support frame pivotably mounted on said support arm, the second roller being rotatably mounted on said support frame, the support frame being able to pivot during use about a pivot axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the second roller and the second roller is thereby able to rock about said pivot axis in order to facilitate passage between said rollers of an object during use; and
wherein during use, as the hay passes between the rollers it is subject to a predetermined compression force sufficient to substantially flatten any nodes on the hay the thereby accelerate drying of the hay.